While we cope with virus restrictions, there are still folks out there shopping for real estate. Last week’s 19 closings showed a steep one-week increase in our local market. A condo and a co-op joined 17 single-family homes including a Belle Haven beauty, my “sale of the week” selection, which went to contract on Valentine’s Day and closed last Monday. At $17.1 million it made a very nice present.

My “buy of the week” selection is a mid-country center-hall colonial that was on the market for over a year and sold at a nice discount from its asking price.

Here’s a summary of last week’s sales presented in table form.

Sale of the week

54 Byram Drive

Real Estate Listings

This week’s “sale of the week” selection is a significant Belle Haven estate with 374 feet of Byram Harbor waterfront, a golf hole with two sand traps, a putting green and a horticulturalist-grade garden you’d expect to see at the New York Botanical Garden. Set on almost four acres of rolling lawns with verandas and terraces overlooking Long Island Sound, this 19-room Georgian Colonial is a compelling property.

Marketed at $21 million for almost 300 days, it was “refreshed” in early February as a “new listing” after a two-day respite and attracted a buyer who agreed to a $17.1 million purchase price. It carries a tax-appraised value of $12,315,600 with an annual property tax of $104,658.

Belle Haven properties don’t come on the market too often and when they do, it’s not often that they have the amenities this estate has. The pool is outfitted with basketball hoops for parties, and both golf and garden aficionados will relish in their respective venues.

Buy of the week

6 Loch Lane

More Information

Closings reported May 11 - 17

Address

Sold for

Days

on

Mkt.

% of Orig. Asking Price

% of Tax Apprsd. Value

67 Benjamin Street

1,375,000

*

*

90%

54 Byram Drive

17,100,000

294

81%

139%

4 Chestnut Street

1,150,000

357

92%

86%

26 Cobb Island Drive

3,200,000

315

87%

80%

16 Deep Gorge Rd.

841,075

55

94%

79%

102 Hendrie Avenue

2,400,000

585

86%

89%

22 Jeffrey Road

1,080,000

251

77%

82%

1364 King Street

800,000

70

94%

108%

6 Loch Lane

4,100,000

392

82%

72%

62 Lockwood Road

3,225,000

436

92%

102%

12 Mary Lane

860,000

114

97%

116%

4 Nimitz Place

1,825,000

14

97%

105%

113 Orchard Drive

2,450,000

34

92%

101%

2 Putnam Hill, #1F

515,000

224

98%

*

10 Serenity Lane

2,410,000

42

97%

99%

176 Stanwich Road

2,200,000

97

82%

119%

18 Stuart Drive

1,260,000

9

101%

139%

7 Tree Top Terrace

1,350,000

38

104%

83%

Whiffletree Way, #8

608,000

63

95%

112%

Total

48,749,075

Average

2,565,741

188

92%

100%

Median

1,375,000

106

93%

100%

After 392 days on market this mid-country center-hall colonial was purchased for 78 percent of the seller’s purchase price from nine years ago. It’s an 11,723 square-foot, six-bedroom, seven full and two half-bath home on 2.18 acres situated on a secluded cul-de-sac off North Street. With custom millwork, over 10 foot ceilings and generously proportioned room sizes, it also has an elevator to reach the colonnaded upper hallway.

Outdoors you’re greeted by a pool, manicured landscaping and a lush lawn. Sit out on the oversized bluestone terrace and enjoy the beauty of this luxury home and property.

The home office

The COVID-19 pandemic has left many people sequestered at home with their families, all vying for computers, phones and Wi-Fi bandwidth. Homeowners, and buyers, too, are looking for comfortable and quiet spaces where they can study, work, teleconference and achieve what they were formerly doing at work and in school.

It’s been a time when people are rethinking the spaces they have or can add to their homes to meet these new needs. The home office and/or library of yesterday has morphed into a home work center, study center and Zoom room.

Buyers who may be spending a significant amount of work time at home in the future are changing their requirements to accommodate the new work style to wich they’ve now grown accustomed. Many are not eager to go back to a five-day-a-week train commute into the city or a drive to an urban office environment.

If you’re marketing your home now, any ability to facilitate this new work and lifestyle will greatly improve your chances to snag a buyer. If you have a separate cottage or other outbuilding that can be transformed into a home office/study center, you need to transform it now so that it can meet the needs of telecommuters and distance learners.

Also, make sure you have the highest bandwidth possible from your Internet provider for your new work/study hub. The Internet is the information highway that is rapidly replacing the Interstate Highway that supported commuters.

This Week’s Success Quote

“The majority of Englishmen and Americans have no life but in their work.” - John Stuart Mill, Philosopher (1806-1873)

Ken Edwards is the principal Broker forEdwards & Associates Real Estate and has lived in town since 1974. All opinions expressed in this column are entirely his own and not those of this publisher. Comments, questions and suggestions may be sent to K_W_Edwards@Yahoo.com or call or text him at 203-918-4444.